■ Harry Truman famously warned anyone entering high public office, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” De Soto ex-Mayor Rich McCane got out last year, announcing his resignation in an Aug. 30, 2018, letter, in which he said he and his family had been harassed. He came to the Sept. 16 meeting of the De Soto City Council to provide more detail, and to sharply jab at his former colleagues on the council. His most stinging remark came near the end of his 15-minute narrative, delivered during the council’s guest period for public comments, when he said a better council could be assembled from five people, “drunk or sober,” on barstools in town. “The best thing I ever did was walk away from here and from these people,” McCane said in front of the council. “It was a burden to me to carry this around and not tell about it.” See Gordon Bess’ story.
■ Sgt. Nathan Shumaker faced his life’s greatest challenge when he lost his leg and suffered other wounds in a mortar attack while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2010. But in the years since, he has faced another challenge – trying to maneuver around his two-story house in Herculaneum with a prosthetic leg. Fortunately, a nonprofit organization called Homes for Our Troops is preparing to break ground on a custom-built, accessible home for the Shumaker family in Hillsboro. See the Page 1 feature by McKenzie Knapp and Laura Marlow.
■ Businesses looking to hire will have a great chance to meet prospective employees at the first-ever Jefferson County Job Fair, to be held Wednesday, Oct. 23. Job Fair organizers are seeking businesses to rent vendor space at the event, which will be held at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. The service center can accommodate up to 66 businesses. Interest in vendor space has been high, but spaces are still available for rent, said Peggy Scott, assistant publisher at Leader Publications, one of the event organizers. Other organizers include the city of Arnold, the Arnold Chamber of Commerce, the Fox C-6 School District and Jefferson College. For booth information, call the Leader at 636-931-7560 or the Arnold Chamber of Commerce at 636-296-1910. Information about the Job Fair may be found on the Facebook event page.
■ Jefferson County 911 Dispatch will argue in court Oct. 7 to keep the 1/2-cent sales tax rate the agency has been receiving for nearly a decade. The Department of Revenue recently said it would begin collecting just a 1/4-cent sales tax for 911 on Oct. 1, despite the results of the April 2 election when Jefferson Countians overwhelmingly voted to allow 911 to continue collecting a 1/2-cent sales tax instead of cutting it in half, as a sunset clause had called for voters originally approved the tax in 2009. See Kevin Carbery’s story.
■ The Windsor C-1 Board of Education helped break in the newly renovated auditorium at WindsorHigh School on Sept. 18, meeting in the spiffed-up space for the first time. The auditorium makeover, combined with remodeling of the adjoining front entrance to the high school, carried the largest price tag among projects on the checklist for a $14.75 million bond issue C-1 voters approved in April 2017. “The front entrance and auditorium was kind of wrapped up into one entire project, which (cost) a total of $2.8 million,” Windsor Superintendent Joel Holland said. Windsor High Principal Jason Naucke gives the auditorium his best high-five. “It’s awesome to have that,” he said. “We had an auditorium before, but this is apples-to-oranges in terms of quality.” See Gordon Bess’ story.
■ Editor Peggy Bess got to chat with an Imperial man who helped change Missouri’s personal property tax law. See her column in the Editorial section.
■ Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Association has named Festus R-6 coach Bryant Wright to its hall of fame. See Sports editor Russell Korando’s column on Wright, along with a recap of football action and coverage of other fall sports.
*** Got your calendar marked for the Oct. 9 Arnold Senior Expo?